AFI MOTION PICTURES OF THE YEAR
AMERICAN FICTION
BARBIE
THE HOLDOVERS
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
MAESTRO
MAY DECEMBER
OPPENHEIMER
PAST LIVES
POOR THINGS
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

AFI TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY
THE BEAR
BEEF
JURY DUTY
THE LAST OF US
THE MORNING SHOW
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING
POKER FACE
RESERVATION DOGS
SUCCESSION

At the event, AFI revealed its official rationales for all 20 honorees, providing the cultural and artistic context to mark these outstanding creative endeavors as the year’s notable milestones. Read the 2023 AFI AWARDS rationales.

AFI also announced that Vice Chair Richard Frank has made a generous multi-million dollar scholarship pledge in the name of AFI AWARDS honorees over the next decade. The scholarships will be awarded to Fellows studying at the AFI Conservatory.

Academy Award® winner and AFI DWW Alum Ellen Burstyn delivered the official benediction. Burstyn was in the first class of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, which was launched in 1974 and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. In her benediction, Burstyn praised the honorees for their dedication to the craft and willingness to give everything to make the honored motion pictures and television programs. Burstyn said, “I feel blessed to be part of this amazing tribe. Thank you all for celebrating the best without making it a competition, just a shared appreciation. We appreciate you all.”

The AFI AWARDS luncheon also featured the Institute’s signature March of Time montage – a unique cross-section of cinematic milestones from decades past, which places the motion picture and television program honorees into a historical context and provides a perspective on the evolution of the narrative arts.

Guests included Pam Abdy, Erika Alexander, Paulina Alexis, Jennifer Aniston, Jesse Armstrong, Ebon-Moss Bachrach, Bela Bajaria, Nicole Beharie, Alan Bergman, David Bernad, Emily Blunt, Benjamin Bratt, Sterling K. Brown, Quinta Brunson, Lionel Boyce, Joanna Calo, Tantoo Cardinal, Jason Cassidy, JaNae Collins, Tim Cook, Bradley Cooper, Brian Cox, Michael Cyrus Creighton, Kieran Culkin, Willem Dafoe, Bob Daly, Mike DeLuca, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jillian Dion, Joaquim Dos Santos, Robert Downey Jr., Neil Druckmann, Channing Dungey, Ayo Edebiri, Lee Eisenberg, Jamie Erlicht, Lane Factor, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Jean Picker Firstenberg, Greta Gerwig, Paul Giamatti, Lily Gladstone, Selena Gomez, David Greenbaum, Matthew Greenfield, Justin Halpern, Sterlin Harjo, Todd Haynes, Cody Heller, John Hoffman, Mike Hopkins, Bob Iger, Lisa Jackson, Devery Jacobs, Rian Johnson, Cord Jefferson, Kathleen Kennedy, Peter Kujawski, John Landgraf, Donna Langley, Yorgos Lanthimos, Mimi Leder, Phil Lord, Gabriel Luna, Natasha Lyonne, John Magaro, James Marsden, Steve Martin, Craig Mazin, Zach McClarnon, Charles Melton, Christopher Miller, Julianne Moore, Carey Mulligan, Cillian Murphy, Cara Jade Myers, Christopher Nolan, Nick Offerman, Pedro Pascal, Alexander Payne, Karen Pittman, Natalie Portman, Kemp Powers, Florence Pugh, Bella Ramsey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Margot Robbie, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tom Rothman, Jennifer Salke, Ted Sarandos, Dominic Sessa, Patrick Schumacker, Martin Short, Sarah Snook, Celine Song, Steven Spielberg, George Stevens Jr., Emma Stone, Charlotte Stoudt, Meryl Streep, Scott Stuber, Lee Sung Jin, Justin K. Thompson, Zack Van Amburg, Dana Walden, Jeremy Allen White, Reese Witherspoon, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Ali Wong, Jeffrey Wright, Janet Yang, Steven Yeun, Teo Yoo, Ramy Youssef, David Zaslav, Lilla Zuckerman and Nora Zuckerman.